An Argumentative Literary Analysis Of Ray Bradbury's The Pedest

New Technology Takes Away Humanities: An Argumentative Literary Analysis

Technology has improved drastically in the past few years, improving society a large amount, but what if these new electronics are not actually improving it but instead making it worse? What if all of these advances are only taking away humanities? Bradbury’s short stories “The Pedestrian” and “The Veldt” tell about technology in the future and what it will do to humans. Bradbury’s views on technology’s growth predict that technology takes away what makes humans, human.

Granted, some feel that technology makes people even more human because “aspiration to grow and advance is innate to humanity” (Vishal Sikka, World Economic Forum). Technology allows humans to grow and advance. On the other hand, technology rids some human qualities, such as the need of human interaction. Melissa Nilles from The Bottom Line says, “Internet and mobile technology

seems to be subtly destroying the meaningfulness of conversations we have with others” (Melissa Nilles, The Bottom Line). Thanks to the advances in electronics, humans no longer feel a need to communicate with each other and make relationships, which is a huge aspect of humanity. These advances also are “... leading to an imminent sense of isolation in today’s society”(Melissa Nilles, The Bottom Line). With new technology, people cut themselves off from others and stop communicating face-to-face.
Furthermore, technology takes away the need of humans even being on Earth. In the short story “The Veldt” by Bradbury, the mother, Lydia, says, “I feel like I don’t belong here. The house is wife and mother now, and nursemaid”(“The Veldt”). The house in the story is full of machines to do everything for its owners, and now that Lydia has nothing to do, she feels useless. George and Lydia, the parents in the story, want their past life back. George decides to move the family and start a new life. He tells his children, “Now we’re really going to start living. Instead of being handled and massaged, we’re going to live”(“The Veldt”). After a while of living lazily and having nothing to do but relax, life gets boring and one may begin to feel they do not belong. An overwhelming amount of machines and technology can cause this feeling of not belonging.
Additionally, if technology can provide everything needed at home, why ever leave?

If people never have a need to go out, they never will. Bradbury wrote another short story, “The Pedestrian”, in the perspective of a man who dares to go out when everyone else is inside. “In ten years of walking by night or day, for thousands of miles, he had never met another person walking, not once in all that time”(“The Pedestrian”). New, advanced electronics may give people everything they need, keeping them inside and taking away any time outside. Not only can never going out hurt people emotionally, but physically also. “The physical act of going outside can do an awful lot to improve your health and wellness in numerous ways”(healthguidance.org). Staying inside all the time causes a lack of vitamins and minerals needed and lessens exercise which can cause a body to degenerate faster, overall causing an early death. If people never need to go outside they will not and they may become very unhealthy, and advances in technology may cause this to happen

often.
In conclusion, all of these advances in technology may not be as promising as they seem. New machines can rid the need of human interaction, cause isolation, make one feel useless, and let them stay inside and grow unhealthy. People should not be dependant on technology for obvious reasons. Technology can fail, and it can cause humans to change for the worse. Realizing how much one relies on their electronics is the first step to ensuring that humanity does not fail due to technology advances. Then, one must put a stop to the excess of technology in their life. People do not need to automate everything and have machines do all their tasks, they need to cut down on their dependence on electronics and stick to old-fashioned ways before it is too late.